President's Statement on H.R. 5122, the "John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007"

Today, I have signed into law H.R. 5122, the "John Warner National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007" (the "Act"). The Act
authorizes funding for the defense of the United States and its
interests abroad, for military construction, for national
security-related energy programs, and for maritime security-related
transportation programs.

Several provisions of the Act call for executive branch officials
to submit to the Congress recommendations for legislation, or purport to
regulate the manner in which the President formulates recommendations to
the Congress for legislation. These provisions include sections 516(h),
575(g), 603(b), 705(d), 719(b), 721(e), 741(e), 813, 1008, 1016(d),
1035(b)(3), 1047(b), and 1102 of the Act, section 118(b)(4) of title 10,
United States Code, as amended by section 1031 of the Act, section 2773b
of title 10 as amended by section 1053 of the Act, and section 403 of
the Ronald W. Reagan National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year
2005 (Public Law 108-375) as amended by section 403 of the Act. The
executive branch shall construe these provisions in a manner consistent
with the President's constitutional authority to supervise the unitary
executive branch and to recommend for the consideration of the Congress
such measures as the President deems necessary and expedient.

The executive branch shall construe sections 914 and 1512 of the
Act, which purport to make consultation with specified Members of
Congress a precondition to the execution of the law, as calling for but
not mandating such consultation, as is consistent with the
Constitution's provisions concerning the separate powers of the Congress
to legislate and the President to execute the laws.

A number of provisions in the Act call for the executive branch to
furnish information to the Congress or other entities on various
subjects. These provisions include sections 219, 313, 360, 1211, 1212,
1213, 1227, 1402, and 3116 of the Act, section 427 of title 10, United
States Code, as amended by section 932 of the Act, and section 1093 of
the Ronald W. Reagan National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year
2005 (Public Law 108-375) as amended by section 1061 of the Act. The
executive branch shall construe such provisions in a manner consistent
with the President's constitutional authority to withhold information
the disclosure of which could impair foreign relations, the national
security, the deliberative processes of the Executive, or the
performance of the Executive's constitutional duties.

The executive branch shall construe as advisory section 1011(b)(2)
of the Act, which purports to prohibit the Secretary of the Navy from
retiring a specified warship from operational status unless, among other
things, a treaty organization established by the U.S. and foreign
nations gives
formal notice that it does not desire to maintain and operate
that warship. If construed as mandatory rather than advisory, the
provision would impermissibly interfere with the President's
constitutional authority to conduct the Nation's foreign affairs and as
Commander in Chief.

The executive branch shall construe section 1211, which purports to
require the executive branch to undertake certain consultations with
foreign governments and follow certain steps in formulating and
executing U.S. foreign policy, in a manner consistent with the
President's constitutional authorities to conduct the Nation's foreign
affairs and to supervise the unitary executive branch.

As is consistent with the principle of statutory construction of
giving effect to each of two statutes addressing the same subject
whenever they can co-exist, the executive branch shall construe section
130d of title 10, as amended by section 1405 of the Act, which provides
further protection against disclosure of certain homeland security
information in certain circumstances, as in addition to, and not in
derogation of, the broader protection against disclosure of information
afforded by section 892 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 and other
law protecting broadly against disclosure of such information.